…we don’t work. Classes have been canceled as unrest continues.
Shit has definently hit the fan here in Tunisia. Protest, riots, demonstrations, and clashes with the police have become common in the last few months. While media reports aren’t sure, we have heard at least 60 people have been killed. We even heard today that a teacher in Amideast-Tunis (where martial law has been declared) was shot.
From the New York Times: People walked past a burned building after riots in the Ettadhamoun district of Tunis on Thursday.
Things in Sousse seem to be relatively calm, although we have heard that three people were killed in protests near the university (not close to where we work or live). In fact today my roommate and I went downtown, and things seemed normal.
Things started several weeks ago after a unemployed man lit himself on fire after police had confiscated his fruit selling set up out of a truck.
Foreign Policy has good coverage, explaining how this started and the current leader of the country, to whom much of the anger is directed; and about the how the protests in Tunisia have spread throughout the Arab word. Similar things have begun in Algeria and Jordan, and Egypt is worried too.
Here is a view from a local perspective (professor and lawyers have joined the movement, and some have been killed.) Here is The Guardian‘s take, and The New York Times front page story, some photos of the unrest,
